Wadena, Minn. – Lolita Myers proves that age is only a song.
The 84-year-old Wadena woman recently became grandmaster in Taekwondo.
To become a grandmaster, students must devote for decades to dedicate training, achieve a high black belt ranging and demonstrating extensive experience in teaching.
“Since I know her, she has been a fantastic student and incredibly consistent,” said Grandmaster Eric Greenquist, who has been training with Myers for more than 25 years. “It is a real pleasure to work with her and be part of helping her to reach the level of grandmaster.”
Myers took her seventh dance exam in July, where she was tested for her form, technology, strength, self-control, knowledge and agility.
To succeed, she had to break no fewer than 50 boards with her hands or feet, show her skills with different weapons and show her ability to defend herself. She was also tested for her knowledge of Korean terminology and showed her understanding of Taekwondo’s origin.
Greenquist has attributed the dedication of Myers to both martial arts and her community and said that in particular she serves as inspiration for women.
“There was a time when women did not learn Taekwondo because it was such a sport dominated,” he said. “So her performance is a real inspiration for everyone.”
Martial artist trip
The journey of Myers to become a grandmaster started in 1993 as he worked at Down Home Foods in Wadena. She saw a flyer on a notice board about a new Taekwondo school opening in the city.
“I was the first person who signed up,” said Myers, who said that her interest started watching martial arts films at a young age. But, she said, it was a different time. “Young women my age, in my age group you haven’t done things like that,” she said. “You are married, you have a house, you got babies, you took care of that. You didn’t work.”
At the age of 52, Myers would start a journey of self-discovery in the Korean martial arts, so that she eventually led to open Minnesota Tae Kwon do school near her house in Nimrod. After outgrowing the room, Myers would make his way to Wadena and opened in 1996 in a store in the center.
For a long time student Mary Ayers said she started lessons in 2008 at the Mid-Minnesota Taekwondo school with Myers. Ayers’ husband later arrived and their children would follow the example. Taekwondo Learning from a grandmaster, said Ayers, has been a great experience.
“Every day I learn new things,” said Ayers. “She is very gifted in body techniques and coordination that the average Joe would never understand,” said Ayers, adding that Myers also helps her to sharpen many techniques. “She teaches me a lot about solving stairs, how I can solve people’s views, and it’s just great. She has a lot of wisdom and I have a lot to learn.”
In addition to the status of the Grandmaster, Myers is also a fourth degree in Hosinsool, a self-defense technique that is used to protect, disarm and switch off, aimed at usability to quickly end a dangerous situation with powerful strikes, ditches and take-downs.
“You are going to learn how you break away when someone grabs you,” said Myers. “You are going to learn how to respond to someone if they try to choke on; you will learn how to fall and not break something when someone turns you – but you are going to turn black and blue because you have to learn how to do that.”
Taekwondo offers countless benefits for physical and mental health, said Myers. Practitioners can find increased power and agility, and the repetitive nature of the techniques helps with overall health and well -being.
“The best part is that your muscles get better, your bone density increases and your breathing is increasing,” she said. That turned out to be incredibly helpful three years ago when Myers fell and her hip bone cracked.
As an old practitioner of Taekwondo, Myers said that she has fallen many times over the years, but a plinth in her pantry would overwhelm her. Initially, she was relieved that nothing had been broken, but a follow-up appointment would crack in the ball-and-socket joint, leaving her in crutches for three months. However, she healed without surgery and credit Taekwondo for keeping her bones strong.
“It was a fight to get the flexibility back, the power to be able to stand on one foot, grab the other, things like that,” said Myers.
Next to Myers is her search to reach the status of the “Triple Master” by controlling Kum Doh (Art of the Sword) and rebuilding her endurance for longer bike rides.
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